Sunday, December 20, 2015

"In keeping with the government's commitment to helping women and children fleeing violence at home, the Minister of Justice should stop the extradition of a single mom to Georgia." – Jenny Kwan, NDP Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship critic

Canadian abuse survivor MM is behind bars fighting extradition to the USA for the alleged "crime" of saving her kids from an abusive father. Three of 7 Canadian Supreme Court Justices insisted on December 11 that the case against her be dropped and that MM be allowed to stay in Canada in the best interests of her children. They also pointed out that MM has no proper legal defence available to her in the USA.

December 20 marks Day 9 of MM's prison hunger strike, which will last until Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould decides if she will reconsider the case and, hopefully, stop this unjust, oppressive extradition that shocks our conscience.

MM is in good spirits because of the strong support she is receiving from across Canada. Hundreds have called, written, emailed, and tweeted the Justice Minister, but still there is no word.

How much longer must MM wait? How much longer must her children suffer the agonizing limbo of wondering if they shall spend the rest of their childhood as orphans?

The new Trudeau government has committed to a national action plan to end violence against women. Surely, one of the first items on that agenda should be a refusal to criminalize a mother who protected her children from abuse.

LIGHTING CANDLES
From December 20-31, we ask that you pledge to light a candle of hope each night for MM and her children, and that each day, you send a simple message to the Justice Minister ( jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca, Cdncentralauthority@justice.gc.ca, Sean.Casey@parl.gc.ca, mcu@justice.gc.ca, tasc@web.ca) that would read something like this (feel free to personalize):

Today, Day 9 of MM's prison hunger strike, I am lighting a candle of hope for Canadian abuse survivors MM and her children. Please stop this extradition and allow MM to raise her kids in Canada. It is not a crime to save your children from abuse.

Tailor each day's email to reflect another day of being on hunger strike ( December 21 will mark Day 10, December 22 will mark Day 11, etc etc.

Make sure MM is referenced in the subject line of your email.

If you tweet, please go to Jody Wilson-Raybould @Puglaas PLS and ask her to Stop Extradition of MM: Saving Children From Abuse is NOT a Crime

Feel free to include the following quote as well:

"At the end of the day, there is little demonstrable harm to the integrity of our extradition process in finding it to be unjust or oppressive to extradite the mother of young children she rescued, at their request, from their abusive father. The harm, on the other hand, of depriving the children of their mother in these circumstances is profound and, with respect, demonstrably unfair....To surrender the mother for her conduct in protecting the children is to penalize them for reaching out to her by depriving them of the only parent who can look after them. Moreover, because the defence of rescuing children to protect them from imminent harm does not exist in Georgia, the mother will not be able to raise the defence she would have been able to raise had she been prosecuted in Canada." – Justice Rosalie Abella, Supreme Court of Canada

Thanks!

Women Who Choose to Live, on behalf of MM and her kids (who cannot be identified due to a publication ban)
http://womenwhochoosetolive.blogspot.ca/

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Monday December 14 marks Day 3 of MM's hunger strike in prison. She is a Canadian abuse survivor fighting extradition to the USA for the "crime" of saving her kids from an abusive father. The videolink below is her childrens' plea to the Justice Minister to stop this injustice.

Sunday night and all day Monday are critical in keeping MM from being sent to the USA. Please help by asking Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the extradition and reconsider the case.

1. If you tweet, please go to Jody Wilson-Raybould @Puglaas PLS and ask her to Stop Extradition of MM: Saving Children From Abuse is NOT a Crime

2. Please email a brief note with the same message to the following addresses: jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca, Cdncentralauthority@justice.gc.ca, Sean.Casey@parl.gc.ca, tasc@web.ca If you have already emailed, please do so again, this time with the additional concern about the health of a woman who is hunger striking in prison.

3. Call-in day on Monday: Please call (613) 992-1416 and register your request to stop the extradition with Wilson-Raybould's Ottawa office. The staff there are VERY NICE and listen patiently, so please be polite! We are trying to track calls, so if you get through, drop us a line at tasc@web.ca!

Thanks!

Women Who Choose to Live, on behalf of MM and her kids (who cannot be identified due to a publication ban)http://womenwhochoosetolive.blogspot.ca/

Earlier today, Canada's new Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, launched a long-awaited process to develop an inquiry into the thousands of murdered and missing Indigenous women. Ms. Wilson-Raybould has spoken numerous times about the need to respect the rights of and support women who have been the targets of male violence. These are both very refreshing signs.

However, on Friday of this week, a case will pass by her desk that could determine whether a female Canadian abuse survivor gets sent to the United States to face a possible 33 years in prison, even though her only "crime" was in choosing to live and to protect herself and her children from physical, psychological, and emotional abuse.

MM (whose name cannot be revealed because of a publication ban) is charged with child abduction even though, as a provincial court has found, “We are in the presence of children running away from an abusive father without the knowledge or assistance of their mother, living in an abandoned home and finally begging their mother to take them away, so that their father couldn’t hurt them again.”

As a provincial court judge concluded, MM “could not be found guilty in Canada…if her intent was to protect the children from danger of imminent harm at the hands of their father and this, even if she did have the specific intent of depriving [him] of possession of the children as well.” No jury reasonably instructed in Canada would convict her, the judge concluded in dismissing the case.

Unfortunately, Canada's Justice Dept. (under Stephen Harper) appealed this decision and won based on very narrow technical grounds related to the Extradition Act. The case will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court on Friday morning (December 11).

If MM wins, the case will be reconsidered. If she loses, the Justice Minister has one of two choices: to surrender MM to the U.S., forcing her children into foster care or, alternatively, to determine that surrender would shock the conscience of Canadians and should be denied.

If your conscience is shocked that someone in MM's shoes faces being sent to the USA for saving the lives of her children, please send a quick email (details below).

ACTION1. PLEASE email the Minister of Justice, the Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, and the International Assistance Group (which advises the Minister of Justice on such cases) at the following emails (this can be one email addressed to all three): Jody.Wilson-Raybould@parl.gc.ca, Cdncentralauthority@justice.gc.ca, Sean.Casey@parl.gc.ca Let them know that regardless of Friday's court decision, the potential extradition of MM shocks your conscience and should be turned down. Please put "MM Case" or "Please do not Extradite MM" in the subject line.

2. Learn more about this case at http://womenwhochoosetolive.blogspot.ca/2015_06_01_archive.html